Education A National Roundup

Appeals Court Won’t Reconsider District’s Ban on Anti-Gay T-Shirts

By Mark Walsh — August 08, 2006 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A federal appeals court last week decided not to reconsider a controversial ruling that upheld a California school district’s decision to bar T-shirts with slogans that “denigrate” gay and lesbian students. The July 31 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, in San Francisco, not to rehear the case prompted a sharp dissent by five of the court’s judges.

“[I]f displaying a distasteful opinion on a T-shirt qualifies as a psychological or verbal assault, school administrators have virtually unfettered discretion to ban any student speech they deem offensive or intolerant,” said the dissenting opinion by U.S. Circuit Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain.

In April, a panel of the 9th Circuit court ruled 2-1 that the 33,000-student Poway, Calif., school district could bar T-shirts with slogans such as “Homosexuality is shameful.” The majority said schools need not tolerate verbal assaults that could interfere with the educational development of gay teenagers. A student, Tyler Chase Harper, had worn such a shirt to school in 2004 the day after some students had participated in a gay-rights event at Poway High School. (“U.S. Court Backs School’s Decision to Bar Student’s Anti-Gay T-Shirt,” May 3, 2006.)

Tim Chandler, a lawyer with the Alliance Defense Fund, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based legal organization that is representing the student, said the group was evaluating whether to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A version of this article appeared in the August 09, 2006 edition of Education Week

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: March 13, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 21, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 7, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: January 31, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read